Poached Pears in Red Wine

Soft, juicy fruit infused with the flavours of vanilla, lemon and 2 kinds of wine.

30mins

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 large firm Packham pears

1 lemon

1 bottle of your favourite Taylors red wine

1 vanilla bean

5 cinnamon sticks

5 bay leaves

12 cloves

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 cup Muscat or port

500g raw sugar

Method

Peel and core the pears but try to keep the stem and any leaves on the stem for appearance. Reserve peel and cores.

Place pears in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Halve the lemon, squeeze it then throw the peal and juice into the saucepan. Add all the other ingredients.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise but don’t scrape out the seeds – let them come out naturally. And don’t dissolve the sugar by stirring, let it dissolve naturally through cooking. If the liquid does not cover the pears, add water. Then put a small lid or plate over the pears to submerge them if necessary.

Place over high heat, bring to the boil then reduce heat to simmer.

When the pears have softened, remove them.

Add the pear peel and cores to the syrup and bring to a steady simmer.